Amazing Stuffing

Oh. my. goodness.

I LOVE stuffing.

Seriously, it's the best part about Thanksgiving dinner.

And my favorite leftover . . . ever!

With everyone talking about November and the upcoming fattening holiday, I have been craving stuffing.

I recently purchased a Depression Era cookbook at a consignment shop, and I love it! So many recipes I want to try.

I actually read through the entire cookbook and marked recipes I want to try. Guess which recipe was at the top of my to-do list?

STUFFING.

The cookbook called it "Wild Rice Dressing", or something like that.

Rice in stuffing? Never thought of that, but it sounded good.

And it was good!!!

I read this recipe about 20 times over 3 days, and perused my Betty Crocker cookbook's version of stuffing, as well.

I came up with my own version of the most amazing stuffing ever!!!

FAITH'S AMAZING STUFFING (as usual, measurements are approximate)

2 cups cooked rice (I used brown)

1/2 to 1 loaf bread, cubed and dried (oven toasted works, too!)

4 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 large or 1 small/medium onion, chopped

1 apple, sliced or chopped (optional, but tasty!)

1/2 cup butter (or more, if you want it really moist--but 1 cup was too much!)

1.5 to 2 cups chicken stock (or water and bouillon cubes)

1-2 Tbsp parsley

1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

1-2 tsp salt (to taste)

few dashes pepper (to taste)

handful of cranberries (optional)

1) While cooking rice and toasting bread, saute celery, apples, and onion in butter (in a medium-large saucepan).

2) When soft, add chicken stock, spices, and cranberries. Cook until bubbly. 

3) Remove from heat (or turn off heat) and add everything else. Mix carefully and thoroughly.

4) Transfer to casserole dish (at least 2 quart), cover, and bake until warm or longer. I did about 2 hours at 200 degrees. 20-30 minutes at 350 would probably do the trick.

Please, enjoy this as much as I did/am!!!

Use Leftovers: Chicken Parmesan

A few nights ago, we had spaghetti for dinner--as in, real, meaty, homemade spaghetti sauce. Yum!

Parker claimed to be extremely hungry (and he probably was), and he convinced me to make an entire box of spaghetti noodles.

Bad idea.

We ate a lot, but not THAT much!

So, what was I going to do with the extra noodles and sauce? Make Chicken Parmesan!

I've always loved this dish, but this was the first time I made it myself. I used this recipe as a base, but I don't like measuring, so I did it my own way in the end :)

First, I skinned and boned my chicken thighs (which I got on sale at the grocery store! yes!)--it took a long time, but it was worth it not to pick out bones as we ate.

Then, I took a zip-top sandwich bag and mixed flour, oregano, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese inside (zip it and shake--so fun!). I put a thigh in the bag and coated it with the mixture. This method is the easiest way of coating, I think--just zip and shake!

The breaded thighs went into a skillet with some hot oil and browned up nicely :)

While those were cooking, I put half of my leftover spaghetti sauce into the casserole dish.

I had to add some water to my sauce, because I usually make it really thick, but the recipe needs more sauce than I had left. It worked.

Then I put the crispy thighs on top of the sauce.

You're supposed to pour the rest of the sauce on top before the cheese, but I forgot . . . so I put on the cheese slices first. I used pepper jack cheese, but *technically* you're supposed to use mozzarella. I liked it this way :)

Then, into the oven for a while!

While the chicken parm was baking, I made garlic bread!

Well, I didn't actually make the bread this time. I knew dinner would be rushed, so I picked up some cheesy focaccia  bread at the grocery store.

I sliced it and but it on the broiler pan.

For the topping, I mixed Italian spices (basil, oregano, and rosemary) into oil (butter works too), and spread it on top. Then I sprinkled it with garlic salt and broiled!

It came out nice ans toasted after a few minutes :)

And, presto! The chicken Parmesan was done, too!

I served this over warm spaghetti noodles, with green beans on the side.

I used the garlic bread to separate green beans and chicken parm, so the beans wouldn't be too saucy.

Of course, I spooned extra sauce on top. Gotta use all that sauce!

This was sooooo yummy!!! I haven't had that many food-related compliments from Parker in a long time. I feel quite accomplished :)

Pumpkin cookies!

Pumpkins and fall go together like peanut butter and jelly or . . . any other twin metaphor. So, of course, since the day we brought in 44 pumpkins from the garden a few weeks ago, I've been dying to make yummy pumpkin cookies!!

Here's the recipe I tried, and pictures of my process :)

Pumpkin Drop Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (instead, I recommend 2 teaspoons cinnamon, plus 1/2-1 teaspoon each allspice, nutmeg, & cloves)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. 

Beat in egg. Add pumpkin and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon (and other spices, if you prefer) and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. (Stir in pecans.)

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets.  

Bake at 350° for 11-13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Remove to wire racks to cool.

I recommend putting paper towels under the cooling rack,
or your counter ends up looking like this!

We (my husband Parker and I) tried this recipe with several different add-ins. After tasting with and without frosting, here are the results:

Dried cranberries: Yummy w/ & w/o frosting

Cranberries & chocolate chips: Amazing! either way

Chocolate chips: Good, especially with frosting

Butterscotch chips: THE BEST! w/ & w/o (I love them even more with frosting, Parker likes them better without)

Chocolate and Butterscotch chips: EVEN BETTER! We didn't do this, but we ate pieces of the 2 cookies together and we wish we had added both!

Extra spice: like I recommend above, they are so much better with extra spices (and any add-ins)

Penuche Frosting

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons milk

1-3/4 to 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

For frosting, in a small saucepan, bring brown sugar and butter to a

boil. 

Cook and stir over medium heat for 1 minute. 

Remove from the heat; cool for 10 minutes. (*Be sure you do this! I didn't, and it made it much more difficult!)

Transfer to a large bowl; beat in milk.

Beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve spreading consistency.

Enjoy these cookies! Please tell me all about your baking experience!!!

Happy Baking!

Meal planning - Sept 4-10

I've been inspired by others who have started posting weekly menus, like Paper From Heaven, and I love organizing and have been meaning to do this. Parker and I went shopping today and stocked up on our favorite meats! So, here goes the tentative meal planning for the week (just dinners)...

Sunday
Homemade pizza

Monday (we're having a friend over)
fried chicken legs
sweet corn (from the garden!)
biscuits
fried zucchini or zucchini bread
peach cobbler

Tuesday
oven-fried steak
mashed red potatoes
green/yellow beans (from the garden!) w/ bacon

Wednesday
DATE NIGHT :D

Thursday
chicken stir-fry
brown rice
sweet corn

Friday
steak (grilled, hopefully)
fries of red potatoes and sweet potatoes
green/yellow beans w/ bacon

Saturday
beef stroganoff
egg noodles
(whatever we feel like eating)